Q: I have vanity license plates on one of my vehicles, and after paying the registration fee for another year I’m contemplating on giving them up next year. I had transferred the plates from a car I sold. Can I keep the vanity plates, or do I have to turn them in? I’m assuming the plates will be deactivated when I switch to regular plates. What is the procedure for doing this according to the Department of Motor Vehicles?
– Helen Nees, Dove Canyon
A: Yes, you can hang them up in your living room, if you choose, or nail them up in the garage.
(Honk, in fact, has a “No1 SCFAN” plate nailed up in his garage that years ago a friend picked up at some swap meet or elsewhere.)
To handle this properly, Ronald Ongtoaboc, a DMV spokesman, told Honk you would fill out Section 4 of the Special Interest License Plate Application (AKA Reg 17) and forward that to the DMV; the form is on the state’s dmv.ca.gov website — just Google it.
That will cost you $43 a year for standard personalized plates, the same extra fee to retain them on your vehicle.
If you don’t way to pay that fee, fill out that same form and mail the plates in or take them to a DMV office or Automobile Club of Southern California office if a member.
“Once personalized plates are removed from a vehicle and not retained, they are deactivated,” Ongtoaboc said in an email to Honk. “However, if the owner intends to use them again in the future, proper retention procedures must be followed to avoid losing the rights to those plates.”
Honk is seeking additional info from the DMV on the subject and will provide it when he gets it.
HONKIN’ UPDATE: A couple of weeks ago, Honk told the fate of the Pre-enrolled Access Lane, or PAL, that runs along the northbound 5 Freeway up to the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint five miles south of San Clemente: It allowed qualified drivers who were vetted and given transponders to zip through the checkpoint without slowing down when agents were present. In 2006, after five years, PAL was shuttered because of low usage.
Nineteen years later, traffic cones and electronic message boards saying, “LANE CLOSED” continue to remind motorists that PAL is no more.
Honk explained all of that, but he is a rather curious fellow and just wondered if there were any plans for this space and asked. An answer appeared a few days ago in the sage’s electronic mailbag.
“There are currently no plans to reinstate the PAL program here,” said Eric C. Lavergne, a special operations supervisor for the Border Patrol. “(And) there are no alternative plans for the lane.”
HONKIN’ FACT: The Washington Post did an exhaustive survey to determine the country’s best 50 airports, using 2,300 reader responses, 450,000 Yelp reviews and an algorithm factoring in what readers like, such as easy-to-get-to airfields and those easy to get through, recent upgrades, well-lit spaces, and high ceilings.
The busiest 450 airfields were considered.
Los Angeles International Airport didn’t make the list.
But Ontario International Airport came in at No. 15, Hollywood Burbank Airport is at 14, John Wayne Airport landed at No. 12, and Long Beach Airport glided in at No. 2. Topping the list was Portland International Airport.
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk